The photo over there is of a non-functioning lamp post in Olmsted Park, not too far from where I live, in Brookline, MA. Its just sitting there, a little ruin in the woods by the walking path and the Muddy River. That is pretty much all I know, but I wonder.

When was it put here? Was it part of Olmsted’s original design? When did it stop functioning? It looks like its electric, but was it ever powered by gas? It has a wood post, but another such lamp in the park has a metal one–is the wooden post a replacement? What did the glass diffuser at the top look like? Was there more metal decoration on top of that? Though all of the old broken lamps in the park look similar, they are all of a differing design. Why? Were they installed at different times? These are just the questions I can think of now.

These are the sort of questions I ask when I come upon artifacts like this–and they’re everywhere in a city like Boston. I’m sure there are many people out there with a real passion for Olmsted, parks, the Emerald Necklace, Brookline and Boston history, or lamps who would joyfully tell me more than I ever wanted to know. At the very least, I’m sure a few answers would be forthcoming.

I’d like a way to reach these folks so they can answer the questions of people like me and give them a way that they can share their knowledge and passion. I don’t mean to limit it to “lamp people”: I have non-lamp related interests as well! Plus, I am generally interested in discovering new and unexpected things either where I live or travel.